Cadenza stays unbeaten on turf with Take the A Train score

Cadenza did more than win a $150,000 stakes at Belmont at the Big A. She showed that her turf game travels, and that matters for a 3-year-old filly whose next move could tell whether she belongs in sprint stakes or can stretch into a bigger class test later this year.

The Stonestreet Stables filly won the Take the A Train on May 9 in 1:08.76 over firm turf, sweeping outside in the stretch to run down pacesetter Alpenglow and hold off Kingsolver by a half-length. Emblaze finished third in the eight-horse field, with Alpenglow fourth. Cadenza, the 3-2 favorite, returned $5.10 on a $2 win wager and improved to 2-for-2 on grass while lifting her overall record to 6 starts, 3 wins, 1 second and 1 third.

That turf résumé is starting to look like the sort of profile that can carry beyond a single race setup. Cadenza did not need the rail or a perfect inside trip to win. Manuel Franco kept her behind the speed, then asked her to make her move early enough to make life difficult for the closers. The result fit the race’s demands and, more important, suggested a filly with enough tactical speed to stay relevant in company that usually punishes one-dimensional runners.

Franco said he had “a good trip,” adding that he sat behind the pace and moved early enough to keep the late runners from getting by. Dustin Dugas, assistant to Brad H. Cox, described the filly as having a straightforward demeanor and a good mind, traits that often separate useful sprint horses from those able to keep improving as the assignments get tougher.

Cadenza’s record supports the idea. She first broke her maiden on turf at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 28, 2025, then spent the winter on Turfway Park’s synthetic surface, winning an optional claimer in February and running second in the Serena’s Song Stakes on March 28 before returning to grass in New York. That sequence gave Cox and Stonestreet a chance to see how she handled different surfaces and race shapes. So far, she has answered every time.

By Charlatan out of Maddie’s Odyssey, by Kitten’s Joy, Cadenza was bred in Kentucky by KMN Racing and bought for $385,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her earnings climbed to $236,487 with the Take the A Train score, a win that keeps her on the radar for the kind of summer turf races that can turn a promising filly into a graded-stakes player.

The Take the A Train was created by NYRA for sophomore fillies on the six-furlong outer turf course, and Cadenza now owns the second running after Love Cervere won the inaugural edition in 2025. That is the kind of early-career marker horsemen remember when a filly begins to look like more than a sprint specialist.